In Praise of Yellow

If there is one flower colour that announces spring and brightens up the darkest corners of any garden, it is yellow. Yellow is a warm, cheery colour that attracts attention and evokes a sense of happiness.

Then why does it get such bad press? It is the one plant that I am often asked to exclude from a planting scheme for a garden design. While yellow can be energetic and lively to some, it can also be aggressive and irritating to others. There is a lot of research into how colour affects peoples moods and the colour yellow can evoke a lot of different psychological reactions in people, whether its aggression or frustration.

For me, the colour yellow is a cheerful colour and makes me smile when I see it. I love yellow flowers in any garden planting scheme. I am always cheered up when I see the bright glow of Narcissus in spring or Rudbeckia in late summer.

Read more in the June issue…